Drive Thru's

     So what is with drive thru's these days?

     Drive Thru's were originally used for expiated service for customers! however this day and age people claim that they are there for the same reason and nothing has changed.

     This could not be further from the truth. the next time you go to a location that has a drive thru available take a look at the last vehicle in line before you go in to the store and check again when you leave for the same vehicle, 9 times out of 10 that same vehicle is still in line and awaiting to pull up to the window to get their product.

     In most situations there are a couple things that make the drive thru slower than being served in store in no particular order.

     (Normally most businesses have more people working the drive thru than any other station in the store to try and make it more efficient but in most cases it makes it very inefficient instead).

1. Customers not knowing what they want to get.
2. Customers not having their payment method ready when they have to pay.
3. Being allowed to place large orders.
4. Employee's taking their time.
1. Employee's spending time talking to the customers after the transaction is finalized.

     So why is it that the drive thru is now slower than being served inside majority of the time?.

     Prime example is now most subways I have been to lately either have a sign up or will tell their customers not to be using their wireless devices while placing their order, if the customer does not abide by that they will skip that customer and go to the next one till that person is done using the wireless device.

     By doing that they are not holding up their other customers and wasting time, it is also placing ownership of the customers back on to them for the time spent their and not on the employee's for being frustrated by the customers by not co-operating with the employee that is simply trying to do their job.

     Now we have Tim Horton's drive thru, they will sell anything that they have in the store through their drive thru and in any amount. There have been numerous times I have been in the store and seen the employee's making numerous sandwiches or a couple trays of coffee's and taking it to the drive through window to give to a customer.

     What is the point of going through the drive through to order something that size. That type of transaction should be done in the store instead.

     The thing most people do not realize is that most if not all companies have a time limit for each transaction being conducted at the drive through and that in turn goes towards their appraisals when they are done.

     In summary, people need to get up off of their arses and stop being so lazy and go inside and leave the drive thru alone for the people that are getting 1 or 2 quick serve items in the drive through.

Gift cards

So what is the point of a gift card?

The point is to try and grow your business. This is done in 2 ways.

1. Have a customer base that will spend money in your store and only your store.
2. Have a cash balance sitting in a holding account accumulating a interest revenue very month/year that the money is there and unused.

     This is ideally a great idea to do. For not all gift cards will be used entirely up (Thus a small percentage of money is unused) thus the interest on the unused balance is a automatic profit for the company after a period of time as well as the interest accrued on that balance.

     Also for a percentage of people that do use the card('s) to get the benefit of the discount program albeit knowingly or unknowingly would and or are more likely to refill the card knowing that there is a balance of some sort on the card, thus getting the person to come to the place of business at least 1 more time if not more than that, thus a better chance of increasing customer loyalty and repeat business from someone that may of been a 1 time transaction.

In other terms

These become a long term repeat customer that is a guaranteed income over and over again.

This is the best type of customer no matter the business or the dollar value that is spent there.

     Then you have the people that will continuously refill the card for convenience instead of always using a debit/credit card and also better tracks the expense that is done there (Budgeting people).

But now the question posed is this.

     What is the increased benefit of a gift card that also has the benefit of a companies discount program attached to it!!!!

     Better advertisement of the company by the cheapest for of advertisement "Word of mouth".

     Now it is true a implementation of such a program is not easy to do if this was not done from the start of the discount program, however it can be phased in over a period of 1 year or less (depending on the size and regionalism of the company).

     Now there are people out there that work for these companies that say this would require too much extra work to have done.

     That simply is not true, most discount cards if not all can be swiped even if any of the items being purchased are not part of the discount program and no extra benefit is applied to the purchase.

     All that is required is for the gift card to be programmed with the generic code of all 0's or the like, thus when the card('s) are scanned the system sees the code and applies it as it would normally do for the normal discount card, if a discount is applicable the system would apply it if no discount is applicable then it does nothing as it already would do other than showing that the card was scanned and the balance does not change.

Never take the blame

So why is it that society this day and age does not take responsibility for their own errors?

     If you are having issues and an employee of the establishment gives you help by verbally informing on what to do and how to do it and you confirm you heard it all and understand what you are told.

Why it's it then when you do not follow the instructions that you were given and confirmed That you understood.

     What makes it worse is that there are also instruction on a card right in front of you with good size font so that it can be read where you were standing.

     After your transaction is done you proceed to then complain that you did not get your store discount and continue to push the issue after that employee that helped you reconfirmed to you again politely after the information that was given to you and then proceeds to point out the information that was readily available to be read where you were and where the information was available to you as well.

     With that being said how is it anyone's fault other than your own that you did not do what you were suppose to do with the information verbally given and available in written text in front of where you did the transaction.

     People in my opinion really need to start taking responsibility for their own errors and or mistakes and Stop blaming other people for their mistakes. We are not children but people of and or above the age maturity.

 

*These pictures were only used due to being handy and available at the time and are not specific to the situation posted above.

Going green

So with everyone wanting to go green these days why is it that businesses don't take the first step and start with the item that is done with their cash register, the receipts?

This is a item that is generated with every purchase and is normally printed twice for 1 transaction.

But yet not everyone wants their copy of the receipt and if they do take 1 but do not need it they crumple it up and throw it away.

This is a huge waste of paper and sometimes even ink. It does not take much to simply reprogram the register to either not print the double receipt at all or only to print 1 copy for the stores record.

Generally receipt paper is ordered by the box and in most cases there is about 20 rolls in each box and most companies will order 4 box's at a time every 2 to 3 weeks.

If 1 employee working 40 hours a week only prints the receipts that are required (The stores copy and 1 for the customer if they need it) they can on average decrease their paper order by almost 1 box a week.

This is not only better for the environment but also for the companies bottom line for expenses as well. At the end of the year you have saved a couple hundred dollars.

Now if this was done by all the employee's (assuming the company doesn't go through with the reprogramming proactively) then the saving potential could be as high as a $1000 or more.

Also with the end result being not only the savings but also the storage required for the receipts as well for most companies will keep these receipts for upwards of 2 years.

So with this having not only a financial benefit for the company but also a huge impact on the environment why is it all companies or most companies are not doing this yet?.

Is it that the high and mighty upper echelon of management have been so distanced from dealing with the public that they lost all grasp on how to manage expenses and would rather reduce hour budgets on employees that can be working at any 1 given time!.

Please comment and share to let me and everyone else know what you think.

Until the blog, Wilcre blogger trying to go viral.

men and women not showing the sign's

     So why is there such a large gap between the way man and women act? Specifically when in regards to interest in the opposite sex?.

     For a guy if a female asks a guy say to go get a coffee or such or go and do something else like a walk in the park etc... The men will come right out and say either yes or no to the situation.

     But yet when the role is reversed the women will almost always say I will let you know or now is not a good time, but will not come out and say NO even though she wants to.

     With this being done it is showing the male that the possibility is there that it may happen. But majority of the time the women either avoids the person them self or avoids the area that the man is normally located.

But on the other hand when it comes to feelings the roles are reversed for the most part. The women are the ones that are generally the ones that show their emotion and the men are the ones that hold back their emotions and or feelings.

     Now I have found that the men and women that will not come out and say NO are the ones that say that they are the ones that want to be up front and say it as it is with people and the ones that are reserved or quiet or such are the ones that actually will give a honest up front answer, which greatly confuses me and others to no end.

     Now once the men and women are in a relationship, there is generally 3 types (There are more but to keep it simplified) of relationships that can be had.

1. The bad relationship
2. The good relationship
3. The great relationship

     The first relationship is when 1 of the people in the relationship mistreated the other one in one way or another (Verbally or physically and or mentally). This relationship is one that is generally on again off again until a breaking point is reached and they are forced apart by friends, family and or the law.

     Then you have the good relationship. This is the relationship that is had when there is a benefit for the other person in the relationship of some sort. This relationship will last until the person in this relationship either gets what they want out of it or until they figure out that they are not gonna get what they are wanting as soon as they want it or not get it at all. Then at that point they find a reason to end the relationship and will usually place the blame on the other person for the failure of the relationship.

     The final relationship is the one that the 2 people get married and stay together till as the vow states "Till death do you part". This happens when both parties in the relationship are open and honest with each other. Now with this relationship it has its ups and downs at times reflecting on the. 2 other types of relationships but the bond created is strong enough to withstand it and stay on track and stay strong thus with standing the test of time.

     This is the million dollar question that not even could be answered on the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

Phenominal music by Mike Peralta

     Hey if you like free music that is excellent and done independently. Then I would recommend that you check out Mike Peralta.

     As of Jul 21st, 2013 he has put all of his music free with the only 2 conditions being that you tell people who he is and if you can make a donation to him when you take the option to download his music (Donation appreciated but not mandatory).

     When you go to download the music you will get a pop-up window asking for payment, all you have to do is insert a "0" as the price and then enter your email address as well as your Postal Code/Zip code and click submit.

     You can also sign up for his news letter as well at this link here http://mikeperalta.com/subscribe and download the songs/albums this way as well. Both choices are free and you are not spammed in any manner by either option selected.

     Mike Peralta is an independent singer songwriter based in orange county, California. Listen to or purchase his debut acoustic folk album and all of his latest singles, You can get T-Shirts and other video's at www.MikePeralta.com

     I do not know what else to say other than he is a very talented artist and everyone should give his music a listen.

     Mike Peralta can be found on numerous avenues of media, Such as

• Twitter: @mikeperalta
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MusicMikeVlogs
• Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/mikeperalta
• Web: http://www.mikeperalta.com
• FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/MikePeraltaMusic
• NewsLetter: http://mikeperalta.com/subscribe
• BandCamp: http://bandcamp.mikeperalta.com/
• iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mike-peralta/id300830131 
• InstaGram: http://instagram.com/mikeperaltamusic#

Here is a embedment of "A Story Forever" by Mike Peralta for you to hear.

Interesting scene

So I decided to go to the Tim Hortons at 5 Lakeland Blvd (St. Margarets Bay Rd) today for something different.

When I pulled in I was treated to seeing a Plymouth Road Runner and a Plymouth Duster parked side by side in the parking lot.

Then as I was getting out a Porsch and a Lotus Sport pulled in to the parking lot as well as a BMW and a couple other done up cars as well.

Other than at a car show you do not normally see these type of cars together, how rare and nice to see.

Directions

So what is it with people that ask for directions but then question everything you tell them?.

You give simple instructions like the following.
     1. Turn left out of the parking lot.
     2. At your 3Rd set of lights turn right.
     3. Then go straight for 2Km and your there.

They respond with so turn right and then go for 2 sets of lights and I am their!.

Then you have to repeat the directions again and in most cases even go so far as drawing a map for them (and in some cases that confuses them even more); and it does not matter if it is a male or female asking for directions.

So what is it that makes it so hard to have people to understand simple directions when that ask for them.

Is it a matter of them not listening or a matter of being in a rush and not focusing on the information that is being provided to them!.

Please comment below and let me know your thoughts on this.

Sobeys Wyse Rd

     So today I finally broke down and went to the new Sobeys location that is at 210 Wyse Rd in Dartmouth; which surprisingly enough is open until 9pm on a Sunday, per their website but the front door decal at the store location states until 5pm. I think they need to get together and straighten the operational times out so there is no possible confusion.

     They have a large parking lot with ample parking of vehicles with a couple cart corrals as well. From the outside of the building the place looks quite large, however once inside it is larger than it appears to be.

     As for the layout of the store it is very well layed out with ample space to move around even if someone is stopped in the middle of an aisle which is a definite plus.

     They also have a ample amount of windows near the top of the walls near the ceiling in which to let plenty of light in (Which I would hope means that the lights that were installed inside the building are either on sensors to control how bright they are or they are all on dimmers so as to reduce energy use).

     Now it does appear that most of the employee's if not all the employees of the Sobeys from the old location on Primrose St have been moved to the new location. However one of the employee's I had to try and interact with today at the Salad/Sandwich counter was either having a bad day or she is like this all the time, completely ignored me as well as another customer that were trying to get her attention. When we finally got her attention she resisted on interacting with us but she served the other customer that was there. Then came my turn, I had asked if she had any more salads or if 1 could be made (keep in mind this is almost 4 hours before closing time), she walked away then came back and said she only had what was on the shelf then promptly went back to what she was doing before we interrupted her. Definitely not the pinnacle of customer service to say the least from this employee.

     Now during my time in the store I walked around it a couple times to check everything out; and every time I walked past the cashiers they were always smiling and and greeting the customers. I even saw the security guard walking around the store and he even helped a customer locate a item that he was searching for in the store as well, This is definitely a plus because that normally does not happen very often if at all these days.

     So my over all experience in this new Sobeys location is quite excellent and will be going back there again and not because it is the closest grocery store to me.

You can find Sobeys on:

 

My Twitter Link

The prize

So a Youtuber that I am subscribed to named @knuf1985 has started to do some prize give always.

The first prize was for movie and popcorn and pop for empire Theaters and you entered by subscribing and following him on youtube and on Twitter if you were not already doing so (So that is a direct hint; come on it is free and highly educational) you also had to like and share his video.

The first give away went through quite well in my opinion to a local person.

The second prize with the same conditions was a $50 gift card from Sobeys; which surprisingly I won which is excellent.

When I got the direct message through Twitter I could not believe that I had won.

Brandon is very Brandom (that should be in the dictionary) and funny. Check him out asap.